PC wouldn't boot up

Yorky

When I booted up my PC this morning the following error message came up:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:

\Windows\System32\Config\System

Tou cann attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD ROM

I didn't get a Windows XP Setup CD-ROM with my Iqon pc so I took it to a computer shop and they did a Windows repair using an XP CD-ROM and charged me €35.

I have no idea why this happened as no new software/hardware was installed and it was working normally yesterday.

Any ideas what might have caused this?

Also, how could I fix it myself if it happens again?

ethernet

Operating systems are such complicated pieces of software! Sometimes an update can mess up your machine -- it's not as if you necessarily did anything wrong to cause it.

You may not have gotten CDs but there may be a 'hidden' partition on your hard drive containing an OS for recovery of your system. If so, there's usually a utility that comes with the machine which enables you to create CDs/DVDs from this partition.

yoyo

Run hard disk diagnostics on your hard drive, I've seen this message with failing hard drives before, especially as a repair was already attempted, hard disk may be on the way out...

Nick